Nyaparu (William) Gardiner (1943-2018) was an award-winning artist, storyteller and language worker. For several years he recorded and wrote Nyangumarta language and stories. Mr Gardiner painted about his childhood in the 1940s before the Pilbara Aboriginal strike of 1946, and about his work on pastoral stations throughout the Pilbara and the Kimberley. For the last few years of his life, Mr Gardiner lived in Port Hedland, his childhood home.
Mr Gardiner’s awards include Best Work on Paper, 36th Telstra Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award 2019; Best Portrait Award, Cossack Art Awards 2018; Best Work in a Medium Other Than Painting, Hedland Art Awards 2017; Best Painting by a Pilbara Indigenous Artist, Cossack Art Award 2017; Highly Commended, Hadley Art Prize 2017; Most Outstanding Work, Hedland Art Awards 2016; Best Indigenous Artwork, Hedland Art Awards 2015. He was a featured artist at Tarnanthi 2019. His work is in the collections of the Western Australian Museum, the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Curtin University, Flinders University, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, and the Art Gallery of South Australia.